Mo Xiaoyu had been chased by the entire galaxy for three whole months.
In three hundred years, she had never been this miserable.
From one end of the galaxy to the other, she had been hunted nonstop. Her face was plastered across every wanted notice in the galaxy.
The charges were shocking:
Stealing a Starcore.
Colluding with outer heretics.
Destroying civilizations.
The news flooded every network:
Breaking news! Mo Xiaoyu, chief researcher of Starcore technology from the Ink Nation, exposed as a heretic! Destroyer of humanity! Thief of Xingning!
But Mo Xiaoyu knew the truth.
The real heretics—the ones hiding behind human skin—were sitting comfortably in the highest seats of the Galactic Alliance.
Outside the cockpit window, a dark and chaotic wormhole twisted in space.
The turbulent currents looked like a gigantic mouth, capable of swallowing even light.
Mo Xiaoyu tapped casually on the tactical panel with her finger.
"Hey, Xiao Ai."
"Are you sure that if we fly into that thing, we won't get ripped into particles our mothers wouldn't even recognize?"
Her tone sounded as relaxed as if she were asking what to eat for lunch.
"And if we really die here… does that count as dying together?"
The moment the words left her mouth, a sweet yet slightly arrogant voice echoed inside her mind.
It belonged to the most advanced Starcore AI chip in the entire universe—her companion for three hundred years, closer than anyone else.
"Dying together my ass. Three hundred years and you still can't act serious."
Xiao Ai sounded a little irritated.
"I've already run the calculation 100,086 times. This wormhole is your only chance to survive."
"But even if you push the ship's engines to maximum power, it will still take thirty seconds to reach it."
"And right now… the pursuers are already on top of us."
The moment the last word fell, space around them suddenly twisted violently.
Ten blue-and-white warships emerged from hyperspace, forming an airtight encirclement within seconds.
The words "Cosmic Security Fleet" glowed brightly along their hulls. Red warning lights flashed wildly, casting flickering shadows across the void.
Mo Xiaoyu leaned back in her seat and lazily yawned while looking at the fleet surrounding her.
"Xiao Ai, do you think they get tired chasing me around every day?"
"…You're still worried about that?"
"Just asking."
She looked out at the fully armed fleet. There was not the slightest trace of fear in her eyes—only a hint of sympathy.
"Sold out and still helping count the money for the people who betrayed them."
"Cosmic Security Fleet? They might as well call themselves the Cosmic Idiot Squad."
But she couldn't really blame them. They were just people with different positions, poor fools kept in the dark.
A stern voice suddenly exploded through the public communication channel.
"Unidentified vessel number 9527, listen carefully!"
"You are suspected of illegally possessing a Starcore and collaborating with heretics!"
"Immediately power down your engines, disarm all weapon systems, and prepare to be boarded!"
Mo Xiaoyu slid her fingers lightly across the control panel.
She knew perfectly well that she had only two choices.
Either let them capture her and wait to be secretly executed under fabricated charges…
Or fly straight into the unknown wormhole ahead and gamble for survival.
The reason for this relentless hunt lay in the most secret rule of the universe.
Within this galaxy, every planet that gave birth to life possessed a unique energy core of its own.
It granted the inhabitants special abilities and formed the foundation of their civilization.
To many, it was even worshipped like a god.
Those cores were called Starcores.
And the heretics lurking in the depths of the galaxy specialized in disguising themselves as rulers, slowly devouring those Starcores until an entire civilization collapsed.
This time, they had poured all the blame onto the only person who had discovered the truth—Mo Xiaoyu.
Outside the window, dark purple nebulae drifted slowly through space.
Mo Xiaoyu's ship floated motionless, its hull covered with battle scars that looked like dried blood beneath the starlight.
Three patrol ships from the Security Fleet approached in a triangular formation, their engines glowing faint blue.
Their laser cannons were locked directly onto her cockpit.
"Drop your weapons and prepare for boarding," the cold command repeated.
Mo Xiaoyu's fingers danced rapidly across the tactical panel.
She had already made up her mind.
"Hey, big brothers, don't shoot. I surrender~"
Her voice suddenly softened into something sweet and harmless over the channel.
Unfortunately, the Security Fleet was professionally trained.
Or at least, they tried to be.
When the leading patrol ship closed within three hundred meters, Mo Xiaoyu suddenly pressed the attack button.
The previously dim underside of her ship rotated open, revealing a pair of twin particle cannons.
Cold blue light flared instantly from their muzzles.
The cannons aimed directly at the patrol ship blocking the path to the wormhole.
The alarm aboard that ship exploded almost instantly.
The pilot clearly hadn't expected that this battered vessel claiming surrender still had the ability to strike back.
But he reacted quickly, yanking the control stick hard.
The engines screamed as they overloaded, and the ship swerved sideways like a startled manta ray, slamming into a nearby asteroid fragment and scattering debris everywhere.
The other two patrol ships quickly widened their distance, locking their weapons onto Mo Xiaoyu's vessel.
"Missile lock on her engines! Don't let her reach the wormhole!" the flagship commander shouted through the channel.
Mo Xiaoyu watched the chaotic cluster of red dots on her tactical screen and almost laughed.
But the ship's system spoke coldly:
"Insufficient ammunition. Unable to fire."
Of course she knew that already.
That last shot had never been meant to destroy anything—it was just a delaying tactic.
And the few seconds of chaos it created were enough.
Enough for the thirty seconds she needed.
The engines roared back to life.
Before the Security Fleet could reform their encirclement, her ship shot forward like an arrow toward the wormhole.
Leaning back in her seat, Mo Xiaoyu watched the stars racing backward outside the window and grinned smugly.
"The Cosmic Security Fleet?"
"Pathetic. Just a bunch of small fry."
But just as the wormhole entrance came within a few kilometers, a piercing alarm suddenly screamed through the cockpit.
"Warning! High-explosive missile approaching rapidly!"
"Warning! Energy shields completely depleted! Fuel reserves critical! Main engine will shut down in ten seconds!"
Mo Xiaoyu's smile froze.
Red warning lights flashed violently, painting her face pale.
The fuel gauge had dropped to zero. The engines whined like dying beasts.
And the wormhole entrance was still thirty kilometers away.
At her current speed, she would never make it.
The radar screeched as the missile's signal grew closer and closer.
"Xiao Ai… what do you think? Are we going to make it?"
"Survival probability calculated. 73.6%."
"That's good enough. Better odds than winning the lottery."
"So what's the plan?"
"I've already analyzed the missile. It's a small assault warhead. The explosive yield can't destroy the ship's main structure."
"Adjust the ship's course 3.7 degrees to the left. Let the missile hit the emergency power compartment at the rear."
"The blast will restart the main engine and push us directly into the wormhole."
Mo Xiaoyu instantly sat upright.
Her fingers flew across the controls, adjusting the course.
One final gamble.
If she won, she'd live.
If she lost…
Well, she'd try again in the next life.
One second later, the missile slammed into the rear of the ship.
The explosion shook the cockpit violently. The reinforced front window shattered instantly.
But the ship did not break apart.
A brutal shockwave burst from the rear, shoving the entire vessel forward.
Mo Xiaoyu was slammed back into her seat by the sudden acceleration, barely able to breathe.
Glass shards and metal fragments flew past her body, most of the damage absorbed by the automatic protective shield of her combat suit.
The emergency power system ignited.
The speed indicator skyrocketed, climbing from near zero to the threshold of sub-light speed.
The stars outside stretched into streaks of light.
The wormhole was getting closer.
Closer and closer.
When the ship finally stumbled into the edge of the wormhole, Mo Xiaoyu was still gasping for breath.
She looked up at the swirling rift in space outside the window.
Then she wiped the dust from her face and laughed.
"Not bad."
"Still lucky as hell."
"Xiao Ai… where do you think this wormhole will send us?"
"Too many spatial variables inside the wormhole. Precise calculation impossible."
"Maybe straight to the Land of Light."
Mo Xiaoyu burst out laughing.
"Seriously? Stop watching so many cartoons."
"The Land of Light? Then I guess I'm heading to the Dark Kingdom."
"Mind your own business," Xiao Ai replied.
Mo Xiaoyu's tone softened slightly.
"Three hundred years already."
"If I don't look after you… who will?"
Xiao Ai fell silent.
The spaceship disappeared completely into the raging currents of the wormhole, vanishing from the galaxy.